Lhasa-Shigatse Railway Track-laying to Complete

The Lhasa-Shigatse railway, the extension line of Qinghai-Tibet railway, known as the national key project, has completed the track-laying process.

It is predicted that all the rail-laying would be completed in 2013, according to the railway construction headquarter under the Ministry of Railways of China.

The Lhasa-Shigatse railway has completed 7.604 billion yuan (about $1.22 billion) investment, accounting for 57.25 percent of the total by the end of Dec. 2012. The estimated preliminary design budget of the Lhasa-Shigatse railway is 13.3 billion yuan (about $2.14 billion) and the annual volume of goods transported will be above 8.3 million tons. The railway is designed to reach first-class national railway.

There will be all together 13 stations along the 253-kilometer railway line within four years construction, including South Lhasa, Qushui County and Nyemo County. It is expected that the trains' speed will exceed 120 km/h.

The completion of the Lhasa-Shigatse railway will enlarge the influence of the Qinghai-Tibet railway and change the previous road-dominated transportation in Southwest Tibet.